The Victoria Clinic celebrates 20 years as Healthscope continues to expand leading Melbourne facility

11 November 2021

Artist’s impression of The Victoria Clinic once current upgrades are completed

The Victoria Clinic is in the process of a $50 million upgrade that will vastly expand the services it offers, as the Healthscope-operated mental health facility also marks two decades of serving its local community.

Located in Melbourne’s inner east suburb of Prahran, the Clinic’s team of accredited psychiatrists and multidisciplinary nurses, psychologists, occupational therapists and social workers have provided countless patients with holistic mental health care since it first opened.

While the Clinic’s importance to the community has continued to grow over the past 20 years, it has played an integral role in helping manage the mental health impact of COVID-19 in the district following the strict Melbourne lockdowns of the past 18 months.

The Victoria Clinic’s General Manager, Allison Carr said COVID-19 has resulted in a substantial increase in demand for services. “The current climate has led to increased first presentations, in addition to presentations where the severity of underlying mental illness has been exacerbated by the pandemic.”

With one in five Australians aged 16-85 now experiencing a mental illness in any year, Carr said it had been crucial for The Victoria Clinic to continue evolving and expanding its services and staff to keep up with growing demand for local mental health services.

“Almost half (45%) Australians will experience a mental illness in their lifetime (ABS, 2009). The most common mental illnesses are depressive, anxiety and substance use disorder. These three types of mental illnesses often occur in combination. Mental health is a growing area of need in both our community and across Australia, and the demand for local services is outstripping our current capacity.

“The Clinic has remained agile with a strong focus on meeting the mental health needs of the local community. Programs are designed with patients in mind, and our offering continues to grow and evolve to provide services to meet a breadth of treatment needs," Carr said.

“For example, The Victoria Clinic has taken on a key role at the forefront of TMS research (Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Therapy). Research was founded here with links to Monash University and The Alfred Hospital, and thanks-in-part to our involvement, this therapy is now widely used across Australia.”

The upgrades will see the Clinic expand its number of beds and add 20 new consulting suites, 15 additional psychiatrists and 200 staff. The new-look Victoria Clinic will also offer an expanded range of mental health services, including additional trauma-based services, an elderly care unit, as well as a rooftop gymnasium and outdoor garden area.

Patient admissions and treatment programs will continue as normal throughout the redevelopment.

Carr said that the expansion will also provide opportunities for new psychiatrists to take up private practice in their local area, with new specialist consulting rooms, increased car parking, a new main reception and patient admission facilities among other important additions.

“The expansion is timely in allowing us to increase capacity at The Victoria Clinic to better meet the growing need for mental health treatment. As we have done throughout the pandemic, we continue to scale our services to better support patients and their families, primary care providers and our healthcare partners.”

“We will offer a wider breadth of inpatient treatments to the local community such as ECT services, SCHEMA therapy, EMDR therapy and TMS. The upgrades will also allow patients to access a modernised and purpose-built facility with 115 beds available once the changes are completed.”

Carr added that increased recognition of the need to support mental health services by the government has assisted patients seeking help in recent times. “The government focus in this area has seen important changes to support people with mental health needs. Patients can now upgrade their private health Insurance to cover mental health services with no waiting periods.

Work on the site expansion began just over a year ago in September of 2020, and is due for completion in early 2023.